# castrum
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin castrum. Doublet of Caister and Chester.

### Noun

castrum (plural castra)
* (historical) Among the Ancient Romans, a building or plot of land used as a military defensive position.

## Latin
### Etymology

From Proto-Italic *kastrom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut, cut off, separate”) +‎ Proto-Indo-European *-trom (Latin -trum) (Watkins, 1969). Cognate with Sanskrit शस्त्र (śastrá, “cutting tool, sword”). See also castrō, careō.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈkas.trum/, [ˈkäs̠t̪rʊ̃ˑ]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈkas.trum/, [ˈkäst̪rum]

### Noun

castrum n (genitive castrī); second declension
* castle, fort, fortress
* (chiefly in the plural) several soldiers' tents situated together; hence, a military camp, an encampment
** c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 5.9:Caesar exposito exercitu et loco castris idoneo capto […] Caesar, having disembarked his army and chosen a convenient place for the camp […]

#### Usage notes

Use in singular is rarer than that of castellum.

#### Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

#### Derived terms

* castellum
* castra

#### Descendants

* Italian: castro, Castro
* Old Galician-Portuguese: castro, Castro
** Galician: castro, Castro
** Portuguese: castro, crasto, Castro, Crasto
* Old Spanish: castro
** Spanish: castro, Castro
* → Albanian: -kastër
* → Aramaic: קַצְרָא (qaṣrā) / ܩܰܨܪܳܐ (qaṣrā)
** → Arabic: قَصْر (qaṣr)
*** Hijazi Arabic: قصر (gaṣur)
*** Moroccan Arabic: قصر (qṣar)
**** → English: ksar
**** → French: ksar
*** → Italian: cassero, cassaro
*** → Old Catalan: alcacer
**** Catalan: alcàsser
*** → Old Galician-Portuguese: alcaçar, alcaçer
**** Galician: alcácer
**** Portuguese: alcácer
*** → Old Spanish: alcaçar, alcacer
**** Spanish: alcázar (see there for further descendants)
*** → Persian: قصر (qasr)
**** Tajik: қаср (qasr)
**** → Ottoman Turkish: قصر
***** Turkish: kasır
**** → Uzbek: qasr
*** → Sicilian: càssaru
*** → Swahili: kasri
*** → Uyghur: قەسىر (qesir)
* → Berber [languages?]: aɣasru, ɣasru
* → Byzantine Greek: κάστρον (kástron)
** Greek: κάστρο n (kástro)
*** → Coptic: ⲕⲁⲥⲧⲣⲟⲩ (kastrou), ⲕⲁⲥⲧⲣⲟⲛ (kastron)
*** → Aromanian: castru
* → English: castrum
* → Hebrew: קְצָרָה (qəṣārā)
* → Old English: ceaster
** Middle English: Chestre
*** English: -caster, -cester, -chester, Chester
* → Romanian: castru

### References

* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “castrum”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 97-8
* ↑ Olsen, Birgit Anette (1988) The Proto-Indo-European Instrument Noun Suffix *-tlom and its Variants (Historisk-filosofiske Meddelelser; 55), Copenhagen: Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, →ISBN, page 16: “3.1.1. *k̂əs-trom/*-trah₂ “cutting tool””

### Further reading

* “castrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “castrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* castrum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* castrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co. veterans; experienced troops: qui magnum in castris usum habent to disarm a person: armis (castris) exuere aliquem to leave troops to guard the camp: praesidio castris milites relinquere to mount guard in the camp: vigilias agere in castris (Verr. 4. 43) to keep the troops in camp: copias castris continere to remain inactive in camp: se (quietum) tenere castris
* “castrum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
* Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 586